Omega-6 and omega-3 oxylipins as potential markers of cardiometabolic risk in young adults

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393) and PTA-12264, Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016-79512-R) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU16/02828 and FPU19/01609), the Fundacion Iberoamericana de Nutricion (FINUT), the Redes Tematicas de Investigacion Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022), the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016 Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades (ERDF; ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR and DOC 01151), the Fundacion Alfonso Martin Escudero, the Netherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: the Dutch Heart Foundation, Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (CVON2017-20 GENIUS-2) to PCNR, and the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC, No. 201707060012).Objective: Omega-6 and omega-3 oxylipins are known to play a role in inflammation and cardiometabolic diseases in preclinical models. The associations between plasma levels of omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid–derived oxylipins and body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors in young adults were assessed. Methods: Body composition, brown adipose tissue, traditional serum cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory markers, and a panel of 83 oxylipins were analyzed in 133 young adults (age 22.1[SD 2.2] years, 67% women). Results: Plasma levels of four omega-6 oxylipins (15-HeTrE, 5-HETE, 14,15-EpETrE, and the oxidative stress–derived 8,12-iso- iPF2α -VI) correlated positively with adiposity, prevalence of metabolic syndrome, fatty liver index, and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index and lipid parameters. By contrast, the plasma levels of three omega-3 oxylipins (14,15-DiHETE, 17,18-DiHETE, and 19,20-DiHDPA) were negatively correlated with adiposity, prevalence of metabolic syndrome, fatty liver index, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index, and lipid parameters. The panel of seven oxylipins predicted adiposity better than traditional inflammatory markers such as interferon gamma or tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Pathway analyses revealed that individuals with obesity had higher plasma levels of omega-6 and lower plasma levels of omega-3 oxylipins than normal-weight individuals. Conclusion: Plasma levels of seven omega-6 and omega-3 oxylipins may have utility as early markers of cardiometabolic risk in young adults.Spanish Government PI13/01393Retos de la Sociedad DEP2016-79512-REuropean Commission Spanish Government FPU16/02828 FPU19/01609Fundacion Iberoamericana de Nutricion (FINUT)Redes Tematicas de Investigacion Cooperativa RETIC Red SAMID RD16/0022AstraZenecaUniversity of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES)Junta de Andalucia Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades (ERDF) SOMM17/6107/UGR DOC 01151Fundacion Alfonso Martin EscuderoNetherlands CardioVascular Research Initiative: the Dutch Heart FoundationDutch Federation of University Medical CentersNetherlands Organization for Health Research and DevelopmentRoyal Netherlands Academy of Sciences CVON2017-20 GENIUS-2China Scholarship Council 201707060012 PTA-1226

Landscape evolution and geodynamic controls in the Gulf of Cadiz (Huelva coast, SW Spain) during the Late Quaternary

The coastal evolution of the El Abalario area (Huelva, southern Spain) during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene is reinterpreted after a refinement of the available geochronology by means of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. New data come from the analysis of soft sediment deformation, palaeosols, geomorphological mapping, and published seismic surveys on the onshore and offshore Gulf of Cadiz. The present structure of El Abalario dome resulted from the complex interaction of littoral-catchment processes and sea-level changes upon an emergent coastal plain, conditioned by the upwarping of the underlying Pliocene - Pleistocene prograding deltaic sequence. Upwarping is probably related to escape of over-pressurized fluids, accompanied by dewatering, prior to (?) and during OIS (Oxygen Isotopic Stage) 5. Continued upwarping produced the large NW - SE gravitational fault of Torre del Loro (TLF) in the southwestern flank of the dome, roughly parallel to the present coastline during OIS 5 - OIS 4. The resulting escarpment favoured the accumulation of aeolian sand dunes (units U1, U2, and U3) from OIS 5 to early OIS 1. Unit U1 (OIS 5) ends upwards in a supersurface with a thick weathering profile that suggests moist and temperate climatic conditions. Unit U2 accumulated mainly during OIS 4 and OIS 3 with prevailing W/E winds. The supersurface between U2 and U3 records a part of OIS 2, with relative low sea level. Sedimentation of unit U3 took place during the Last Deglaciation (radiocarbon and OSL ages) with prevailing W/SW winds, under a temperate moist climate, that became more arid towards the top (Holocene). A major supersurface with an iron crust-like layer (SsFe) developed during the Holocene Climatic Optimum (OIS 1) under wetter and more temperate conditions than before, fossilizing the TLF. The supersurface is covered by younger aeolian dunes (U4, U5, U6, and U7) transported by W - SW winds since the Late Neolithic - Chalcolithic cultural period (̃5.0 ky cal BP).Financial support from Spanish Projects BTE2002-1065 and BTE2002-1691. This is a contribution to IGCP 495 and to the INQUA “Coastal and Marine Processes Commission”

Standardization in laboratory medicine: Two years’ experience from category 1 EQA programs in Spain

Introduction: Standardization is the ability to obtain interchangeable results leading to same medical interpretation. External quality assessment (EQA) is the main support of the on-going harmonization initiatives. Aim of study was to evaluate results obtained from two years category 1 EQA program experience in Spain and determine the impact of applying this type of EQA program on the analytical standardization. Materials and methods: According to the analytical method, traceability and instrument different groups were established which results were evaluated by calculating mean, coefficient of variation and percent of deviation to the reference value. Analytical performance specifications used to the results\u27 evaluation were derived from biological variation for bias and from the inter-laboratory coefficients of variation found in a previous pilot study. Results: Only creatinine measured by enzymatic methods gave excellent results, although few laboratories used this method. Creatine kinase and GGT gave good precision and bias in all, but one instrument studied. For the remaining analytes (ALT, ALP, AST, bilirubin, calcium, chloride, glucose, magnesium, potassium, sodium, total protein and urate) some improvement is still necessary to achieve satisfactory standardization in our setting. Conclusions: The two years of category 1 EQA program experience in Spain have manifested a lack of standardization of 17 most frequent biochemistry tests used in our laboratories. The impact of the information obtained on the lack of standardization is to recommend abandoning methods such as ALT, AST without exogenous pyridoxal phosphate, Jaffe method for creatinine, and do not use non-commutable calibrators, such as aqueous solutions for calcium and sodium

El grupu neandertal de la Cueva d'El Sidrón (Borines, Piloña).

Na monografía clásica de Puig y Larraz (1896: 250-252) amiéntense delles cavidaes del Conceyu de Piloña2 , pero non la Cueva d’El Sidrón (Fig. 1). Esta conocíase, ensin dulda, dende la Guerra Civil y el maquis al servir d’abellugu a persiguíos políticos, y guarda una alcordanza imborrable nuna de les sos múltiples entraes, yá qu’ellí ta enterrada Olvido Otero González (1908-1938). Per El Sidrón pasaron munches persones a lo llargo de los años, pero en 1994 prodúxose’l descubrimientu per parte d’unos espeleólogos xixoneses d’unos güesos humanos que dieron un importante xiru a la conocencia de los nuesos antepasaos neandertale

El grupu neandertal de la Cueva d'El Sidrón (Borines, Piloña)

Na monografía clásica de Puig y Larraz (1896: 250-252) amiéntense delles cavidaes del Conceyu de Piloña, pero non la Cueva d’El Sidrón (Fig. 1). Esta conocíase, ensin dulda, dende la Guerra Civil y el maquis al servir d’abellugu a persiguíos políticos, y guarda una alcordanza imborrable nuna de les sos múltiples entraes, yá qu’ellí ta enterrada Olvido Otero González (1908-1938). Per El Sidrón pasaron munches persones a lo llargo de los años, pero en 1994 prodúxose’l descubrimientu per parte d’unos espeleólogos xixoneses d’unos güesos humanos que dieron un importante xiru a la conocencia de los nuesos antepasaos neandertales.Peer Reviewe

PDRs4All: A JWST Early Release Science Program on Radiative Feedback from Massive Stars

22 pags., 8 figs., 1 tab.Massive stars disrupt their natal molecular cloud material through radiative and mechanical feedback processes. These processes have profound effects on the evolution of interstellar matter in our Galaxy and throughout the universe, from the era of vigorous star formation at redshifts of 1-3 to the present day. The dominant feedback processes can be probed by observations of the Photo-Dissociation Regions (PDRs) where the far-ultraviolet photons of massive stars create warm regions of gas and dust in the neutral atomic and molecular gas. PDR emission provides a unique tool to study in detail the physical and chemical processes that are relevant for most of the mass in inter-and circumstellar media including diffuse clouds, proto-planetary disks, and molecular cloud surfaces, globules, planetary nebulae, and star-forming regions. PDR emission dominates the infrared (IR) spectra of star-forming galaxies. Most of the Galactic and extragalactic observations obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will therefore arise in PDR emission. In this paper we present an Early Release Science program using the MIRI, NIRSpec, and NIRCam instruments dedicated to the observations of an emblematic and nearby PDR: the Orion Bar. These early JWST observations will provide template data sets designed to identify key PDR characteristics in JWST observations. These data will serve to benchmark PDR models and extend them into the JWST era. We also present the Science-Enabling products that we will provide to the community. These template data sets and Science-Enabling products will guide the preparation of future proposals on star-forming regions in our Galaxy and beyond and will facilitate data analysis and interpretation of forthcoming JWST observations.Support for JWST-ERS program ID 1288 was provided through grants from the STScI under NASA contract NAS5-03127 to STScI (K.G., D.V.D.P., M.R.), Univ. of Maryland (M.W., M.P.), Univ. of Michigan (E.B., F.A.), and Univ. of Toledo (T.S.-Y.L.). O.B. and E.H. are supported by the Programme National “Physique et Chimie du Milieu Interstellaire” (PCMI) of CNRS/INSU with INC/INP co-funded by CEA and CNES, and through APR grants 6315 and 6410 provided by CNES. E. P. and J.C. acknowledge support from the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant program (RGPIN-2020-06434 and RGPIN-2021-04197 respectively). E.P. acknowledges support from a Western Strategic Support Accelerator Grant (ROLA ID 0000050636). J.R.G. and S.C. thank the Spanish MCINN for funding support under grant PID2019-106110GB-I00. Work by M.R. and Y.O. is carried out within the Collaborative Research Centre 956, subproject C1, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)—project ID 184018867. T.O. acknowledges support from JSPS Bilateral Program, grant No. 120219939. M.P. and M.W. acknowledge support from NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program award #80NSSC19K0573. C.B. is grateful for an appointment at NASA Ames Research Center through the San José State University Research Foundation (NNX17AJ88A) and acknowledges support from the Internal Scientist Funding Model (ISFM) Directed Work Package at NASA Ames titled: “Laboratory Astrophysics—The NASA Ames PAH IR Spectroscopic Database.”Peer reviewe

The Helicobacter pylori Genome Project : insights into H. pylori population structure from analysis of a worldwide collection of complete genomes

Helicobacter pylori, a dominant member of the gastric microbiota, shares co-evolutionary history with humans. This has led to the development of genetically distinct H. pylori subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host and with differential gastric disease risk. Here, we provide insights into H. pylori population structure as a part of the Helicobacter pylori Genome Project (HpGP), a multi-disciplinary initiative aimed at elucidating H. pylori pathogenesis and identifying new therapeutic targets. We collected 1011 well-characterized clinical strains from 50 countries and generated high-quality genome sequences. We analysed core genome diversity and population structure of the HpGP dataset and 255 worldwide reference genomes to outline the ancestral contribution to Eurasian, African, and American populations. We found evidence of substantial contribution of population hpNorthAsia and subpopulation hspUral in Northern European H. pylori. The genomes of H. pylori isolated from northern and southern Indigenous Americans differed in that bacteria isolated in northern Indigenous communities were more similar to North Asian H. pylori while the southern had higher relatedness to hpEastAsia. Notably, we also found a highly clonal yet geographically dispersed North American subpopulation, which is negative for the cag pathogenicity island, and present in 7% of sequenced US genomes. We expect the HpGP dataset and the corresponding strains to become a major asset for H. pylori genomics

Association of exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates with thyroid hormones in adolescents from HBM4EU aligned studies

Background: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and phthalates are synthetic chemicals widely used in various types of consumer products. There is epidemiological and experimental evidence that PFAS and phthalates may alter thyroid hormone levels; however, studies in children and adolescents are limited. Aim: To investigate the association of exposure to PFAS and phthalate with serum levels of thyroid hormones in European adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 406 female and 327 male adolescents (14-17 years) from Belgium, Slovakia, and Spain participating in the Aligned Studies of the HBM4EU Project (FLEHS IV, PCB cohort, and BEA, respectively). Concentrations of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured in sera from study participants, and urinary metabolites of six phthalates (DEP, DiBP, DnBP, BBzP, DEHP, and DiNP) and the non-phthalate plasticizer DINCH® were quantified in spot urine samples. Associations were assessed with linear regression and g-computational models for mixtures. Effect modification by sex was examined. Results: In females, serum PFOA and the PFAS mixture concentrations were associated with lower FT4 and higher FT3 levels; MEP and the sums of DEHP, DiNP, and DINCH® metabolites (∑DEHP, ∑DiNP, and ∑DINCH) were associated with higher FT4; ∑DEHP with lower FT3; and the phthalate/DINCH® metabolite mixture with higher FT4 and lower FT3. In males, PFOA was associated with lower FT4 and the PFAS mixture with higher TSH levels and lower FT4/TSH ratio; MEP and ∑DiNP were associated with higher FT4; and MBzP, ∑DEHP, and the phthalate/DINCH® metabolite mixture with lower TSH and higher FT4/TSH. PFOA, mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (OH-MEHP), mono-(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (oxo-MEHP), and monocarboxyoctyl phthalate (MCOP) made the greatest contribution to the mixture effect. Conclusions: Results suggest that exposure to PFAS and phthalates is associated with sex-specific differences in thyroid hormone levels in adolescents.This work was supported by the European Commission Project: Human Biomonitoring for Europe “HBM4EU”. Exp: 733032. The authors are also grateful to the ISCIII/FEDER for the Miguel Servet II contract granted to C. Freire (CPII21/00014), to the Fundacion Ramón Areces, for the postdoctoral fellowship granted to A. Rodriguez-Carrillo, and to the “Servicio Andaluz de Salud” (SAS) for the “Refuerzo de la Actividad Investigadora” research grant granted to N. Olea (Exp. A1-0047-2021). The FLEHS IV study was conducted within the framework of the Flemish Center of Expertise on Environment and Health (FLEHS, 2016–2020) and funded by the Government of Flanders, Department of Environment & Spatial Development. PCB cohort follow-up received additional funding from the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, program 07B0103. The BEA study was co-funded by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (SEG 1321/15). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBUA.S

Promoción de la lectura y escritura

El proyecto pretende fomentar la adquisición y consolidación del hábito lector en adultos. La intervención intracurricular se realiza a través de dinamización bibliotecaria, y animación a la lectura y escritura; y la extracurricular mediante un aula abierta de animación a la lectura y escritura, para los alumnos del Tramo II y Graduado Escolar. Los objetivos son adquirir y desarrollar el hábito lector; mejorar la expresión y comprensión lectora; potenciar el uso de las bibliotecas públicas; recopilar toda la documentación del centro; equilibrar y difundir los fondos bibliotecarios; reconocer los principales géneros literarios; y aprender a manejar la información, con medios tradicionales y con las nuevas tecnologías. La metodología fomenta la participación activa, la creatividad y la personalización. Las actividades son la asistencia a dos encuentros literarios, uno con Dulce Chacón y otro con Rosa Montero; asistencia en el Círculo de Bellas Artes a la lectura del Quijote; visita a la biblioteca pública Pedro Salinas; participación en la celebración del Día del Libro del Círculo de Lectores; acercamiento a la poesía en castellano del siglo XX, dentro del programa del Aula Abierta de Animación a la lectura y escritura; educación bibliotecaria; y visita a la Feria del Libro. La evaluación se realiza a través de autoevaluación de los alumnos, y dos cuestionarios para los profesores, uno para valorar las actividades y objetivos, y otro para valorar el proyecto..Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de EducaciónMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES